1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of lighters and, particularly, to a driver disk assembly for making a lighter more difficult to operate.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A child typically learns by watching and mimicking the actions of an adult. Children often witness parents and other adults operating conventional lighters, which result in the creation of flames. These flames can fascinate a child, giving the child the incentive to obtain the lighter and mimic the action of the adult so as to operate the lighter. There is a great danger associated with this effort because the child is unable to appreciate and respect the power of fire. As a result, it is desirable to try to prevent the ready actuation of conventional lighters by children.
An average child has a short attention span so that the actions it mimics can easily become dissociated with an intended outcome, causing the child to abandon interest in continuing its actions. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a lighter design that hinders the ability of a child to activate the lighter, whereby the interest of the child in operating the lighter dissipates and the child moves on to other activities.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a lighter that does not significantly increase the production cost of the lighter.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a lighter that is more difficult for children to operate, but does not significantly hinder the ability of an adult to activate the lighter.
According to the present invention, the foregoing objects are obtained with a lighter having a housing that forms a fuel reservoir. The housing has a fuel outlet extending from the housing. A valve assembly controls the flow of fuel from witbin the reservoir to the fuel outlet. A flint is mounted on a support which is mounted on a top plate of the housing for lighting fuel released from the fuel reservoir. A flint actuator includes a spark disk to engage the flint and a driver disk fixedly connected to the spark dish The spark disk and the driver disk are rotatably connected to the housing. A third disk is rotatably connected to the housing and is disposed between the driver disk and the spark disk. The third disk has a diameter greater than the driver disk. The top plate is fixedly connected to the housing. The top plate is disposed between the driver disk and the housing. The top plate has a radially outwardly protruding portion between the housing and the driver disk. The radially outwardly protruding portion is aligned with the driver disk and extends radially outwardly a greater distance than the driver disk.